Perceived busyness shapes assortment size preferences via distinct thinking styles

Abstract Busyness is a pervasive feature of contemporary consumer life, yet its implications for choice remain underexplored. This paper investigates how consumers’ subjective appraisals of busyness shape preferences for assortment size. Drawing on dual-process theories of cognition, we argue that busyness influences decision making by directing how cognitive resources are deployed rather than by uniformly constraining them. When busyness is appraised positively, consumers remain cognitively engaged, rely more on analytical thinking, and prefer larger assortments that support careful evaluation and optimization. When busyness is appraised negatively, consumers disengage from deliberation, rely more on experiential thinking, and favor smaller assortments that reduce decision effort. Evidence from multiple studies, including experimental and survey data, provides consistent support for this mechanism. These findings clarify how everyday experiences of busyness shape cognitive processing and assortment choice, with implications for consumer theory and retail assortment design.